Asia/Pacific News
China to OK P3 Alliance This Month
Chinese regulators are expected to agree to the P3 container shipping alliance later this month, allowing it to begin full operations this fall, the Wall Street Journal reports.
European regulators said this week that they will not raise antitrust issues over the cooperative agreement among the world's three largest container shipping lines, Maersk Line, GMA CGM, and Mediterranean Shipping Co. (MSC).
A European Commission spokesperson said European authorities would not begin anti-trust efforts against either P3 or the G6 alliance of Hapag-Lloyd, APL, Hyundai Merchant Marine, Mitsui OSK, Nippon Yusen Kaisha, and Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL), but would intervene if either alliance appeared to break competition rules, according to industry news site TradeWinds.
One source told the Wall Street Journal that Chinese authorities had been waiting to see the response from the U.S. and European Union (EU) before ruling on the alliance.
The U.S. Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) agreed to the alliance in March.
The alliance among the three carriers, which transport 40 percent of cargo on major overseas routes, will allow the companies to share space on each other's ships and port facilities, cutting costs by billions of dollars.
